[arin-ppml] Nanog IPV4 Panel Discussion and 8.3 transfers

[Owen DeLong]

On Feb 10, 2012, at 6:11 AM, Matthew Kaufman wrote:

> On 2/10/2012 4:03 PM, John Curran wrote:
>> On Feb 10, 2012, at 2:32 PM, Matthew Kaufman wrote:
>> 
>>> If we define "transfer" as "the entity with the legal right to use or control the use of the numbers changes", not so much.
>> Incorrect.  Party A retains that right until the resources
>> are transferred to another party per policy.
>> 
> 
> We'll probably need to disagree on this. I would claim that if a contract exists in which Party A gave up those rights to another party, then it is all over save the database update.
> 
> This is no different than an M&A transfer.
> 
> Certainly once I own all the shares of a company I've acquired, I can direct them to do anything I want with the address space assigned to them, whether or not we've gotten around to changing the name on the whois record.
> 
> If instead I purchase all the assets of a company that has address space, in practice I can run the new company that owns those assets in any way I see fit, including hiring all their employees, transferring their contracts, and continuing to route their IP address space to their equipment, again whether or not we've gotten around to changing the name on the whois record. In fact, this happens all the time, as these kinds of asset sale contracts are signed and closed *before* the ARIN paperwork is submitted, even if the transfer is assured to happen.
> 

Matthew,

In both of your cited examples, there is no party A remaining independent of party B and therefore no possibility of a dispute between A and B.

Now, the situation that is much more of a gray area is if party A comes to agreement with party B to transfer a /16. They attempt to do this only to discover that party B only qualifies for a /20 under ARIN policy. The complete the transfer of the /20 and have some agreement regarding the remainder of the /16 being transferred at some later date or whatever.

Party A then decides to dispose of the remainder of the /16 in other ways. Party B attempts to dispute this, claiming contractual rights contrary to the transfer policy.

I have no idea how that scuffle would turn out. I don't think you can say with any certainty, either.

Certainly it will be quite the battle between party A and party B over A's alleged breech of contract with B. Beyond that, it's unclear what would happen.

Owen